Apparatus and method for curing legume



Nov. 1; 1927.

.,H. F."GALBRA1TH APPARATUS AND METHOD FOR CURING LEGUME Filed March 11, 1927 Mv FPI) $.11..-

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ATTORNEY Jtory it consumes considerable time.

Patented Nov. 1, 1927.

HARRY r. GALBRAITH, or PHILADELPHIA, rENNsYLVANIA.

' APPARATUS AND( METHOD FOR CURIN G LEGUME.

Application led March 11, 1927. `Serial No. 174,576.

The present invention relates to an apparatus and a method for curing legume and more especially alfalfa, oats and thevlile.

At present there are artificial methods and apparatus Vfor caring legume, suoli as alfalfa and other similar products, but such apparatus and methods are expensivdthe ysmall farmer being unable to avail himself of such apparatus.y Also legume is allowed yto cure inthe field, but this method is unsatisfacthe other hand farmers quite often ylose the entire cropof alfalfa or other legumadue to therfact that when it is ready to out Weather conditions rprevent it from being cnt, hence it is brolreiiand damaged considerably7 that 1s beaten down.

, llt is the purpose of the present invention to avoid thesecontingencies, and make-it possible to cure alfalfa vand other legume with less handling, Without risk offlossesdue y to Weather conditions,` saving the entire crop as Well. as considerable time and laborv and with minimum expense, it being possible with this particular apparatus and method to permit the alfalfa-or other legume to be ont at the proper'time, in fact at any convenient time, .and particularly before it loses its entire strength, and especially before bad Weather sets in at the end of the season. Y

i tus andmethod less expensive than any other lnoivnmethod suchV as those involving the use of expensive apparatus,and enabling the vcrop to becured in the mow.

It is understood that' the particulars herein ,givenv are inno Waylimitive, and

that vvhile still lreepingyvithin the scope of the invention, any desired modification of l detailsy and 'proportions may be made in the sa y construction of the apparatus yand method raccording `to circumstances.

-. The invention comprises further features and combination ofpartstol be hereinafter `set forth,

\ shovvn in athe drawings and claimed. f f V ln the drawings: Y c Figure. y1` is a vievva diagrammatically showing the construction of an apparatus fory artificially curing alfalfa and lother leg c `h`igure2 is an enlarged detailrsectional;r rview ofthe vupper part of the heatershow ing the kehainher through which ythecompressed air passes to be heated, and then conveyed to the several coils of hose.,

Figure 3 is a detail view of a portionof one ofthe hose, showing the cuts therein, which permit the escape of the heated 'com-` pressed air. y Y f. Referring to the drawings-e1 identifiesthe ymow of a barn 2 and 3 is a conventional type ycan kbe quickly heated, A suitable pipe 10,

leading from the heat dome passesl through the chamberf? and through the top of the heater and may terminatey at anysuitahle location7 so as to carry off. the heat to the atmosphere.' f Leading from the heater fand communicat- ,ing with the chamber 7 isa pipe or conduit 11, andfvvhich merges into; a standpipelf which rises adjacentto'vthe mow v1 of the barn, This standpipe may bepany height, l, c according to the height of the mow, and Another purpose is to provide an appara-` Wherever it might terminate, its upperl end isL closed by acapl. f n Aplurality of approved'spigots liwith valves are operatively connected-at 15 to the "'standpipeythere being a plurality ofk approved valves 16 also carried by the standpipe r12. It will be noted that the valves ,16 are intermediate the spigots 14.f

y p AOperatively connected, to the spigots 'in any approvedmanner as at 17 is a pluralityl ofy hose 18. Each liosecm'aybe' any length, according to the size of `*coil into Tvhich'the hose is designed to be formed7 .when placing the alfalfa or other legume in the movv. Each hoseis provided'ffvvith a pluralityof splits or cuts, 19, which, may be any fermia-y tion, preferably V-'shaped as shown infFigure 3, thereby providingV-shapedfdaps 20 In curing alfalfa or other legume it is the aim `to deposita layer lor quantity of alfalfa n con the oorof: the inovv, `and then'farrange Ihose 18 inasultablecoiljon the first layer which"` act to close the slits when thev airis '1105" shutoff. 1

of material, and then deposit a substantial quantity of alfalfa on top. It will be noted that in Figure 1 the hose is shown as being in an elongated coil, and it appears that it is in vertical position. However, this is merely a diagrammatic showing of the coil, for in reality the coil of each hose lies horizontally.

After deposit-ing a supply of alfalfa on top of the first layer, another hose in coil form is arranged, and then an additional deposit of alfalfa'placed on top of the second hose. In the operation the lowermost spigot 14 is partly closed (previous to which it had been fully open allowing a substantial supply of compressed heated air to escape through'the slits 19 curing the alfalfa) and then the lowermost valve 1G is fully opened and the next spigot 14 is also entirely open allowing heated compressed air to pass through the second'hose and escape through its slits or cuts 19. After the heated compressed air is allowed to escape through the second hose Vfor a substantial time, a third hose is then arranged in the coil on the last deposit of alfalfa, and an additional supply on top of the third hose. The second spigot is then closed to permit a small quantity of compressed heated air to escape into the alfalfa, the greater quantity of air discharging from the third spigot and through the third hose, thethird valve 16 at this time being entirelyy closed.

A fourth hose is then arranged in a coil on the last deposit of alfalfa and the third valve 16 opened entirely, the third spigotbeing practically closed as in the first instance and the last or fourth spigot 14 entirely open, which permits a substantial supply of heated compressed air to escape into the alfalfa or other legume, a last deposit of alfalfa having been' deposited on the last hose. The stand-pipe as previously stated may be any height and there may be any number of valves 14 and 1G, it depending entirely upon the height of the mow, and in which case substantially any amount of al falfa or other legume can be easily and quickly cured, in very much less time than in any other artificial known method, and it will be further noted that substantial time and labor, with this character of apparatus and method, are saved.

It is obvious thatin case the alfalfa or other legume becomes overly heated, it can be easily cooled, by simply detaching the pipes 5 and 11 from the heater, and joining their disconnected ends by means' of a coupling nipple, not shown, so as to convey compressed air into the mow. The fact'is by the time the air reaches theV mow it is of substantial cooling qualities. VThe air compressor may be any approved type now on the market, one that can be procured at a small cost, while theheater may likewise be of any approved construction as now on the market. The invention resides in the arrangement of the apparatus, and the method, and also the manner of arranging the hose for the purpose of curing the alfalfa or legunie. The pipe 5 has a valve 21, whereby the supply of compressed air from the tank 4 can be controlled to the heater.

A by-pass pipe 23 connects the two pipes or conduits 5 and 11, and this by-pass pipe has a valve 2P. The pipe 5 at a point between the heater G and one of the upright legs of the luy-pass pipe is provided with a valve 21, while the pipe 11 at av point between the heater G and the other upright leg of the by-pass pipe Q3 is provided with a valve' 2i.. Obviously when the valves 21 and 2Q are closed, and the valve 21 opened. compressed air will enter the standpipe and be` carried off through the several hose and into the legume, for cooling it off, in case it,

has been heated too much.

The pipe 11 has connected to it an injector 24 p rovided with a valve In case the air passing through the pipe 11 is too hot, it is possible to open the valve 25 of the injector, thereby allowing fresh air from the exterior to be drawn into the pipe 11 and mix with the heated air, thereby reducing its temperature prior to its entering the alfalfa or other legume.

The invention having been set forth,what is claimed is:

1. In anv apparatus for curing alfalfa and other legume, the combination with a heater and an air compressor operatively connected to the heater, of a standpipe operatively connected to the heater and provided with a plurality of spigots and a series of intermediate control valves, a hose connected to cach spigot and adapted to be arranged in a coil in the deposit of alfalfa or other leg ume in the mow, the several hose being relatively superposed, in order to cure a substantial supply of alfalfa, cach hose having a plurality of outlets for the heated compressed Y air.

2. An apparatus for curing alfalfa and other legume comprising a standpipe for the reception of heated compressed air, a plurality of hose superposed and communi catively connected with the standpipe, a valved spigot intermediate each hose and the standpipe, and a plurality of valves in the standpipe between the locations of the spigots for permitting the compressed heated air to pass from the spigot below to the spigot above, when the spigots below are practically shut o, each hose having outlets for the heated compressed air, which acts to cure the alfalfa in the mow and surrounding the several hose.

3. An apparatus for curing alfalfa and other legume consist-ing of a standpipe and a plurality of superposed hose communicapermitting the heated compressed air to` ascend to the several hose consecutively, each hose having outlets for the escape of com pressed heated air.

. Ll. A method for curlng alfalfa or other legume comprising sandwichinfr a plurality of coils of hose and deposits of alfalfa and then feeding step by step yconsecutively a supply of heated compressed air'through the hose and through the several deposits of alfalfa, and then step by step consecutively partially shutting oil the supply of compressed air from below through the several deposits of alfalfa. n

5. A method for curing a supply of alfalfa, consisting in feeding step by step a supply of compressed heated air froml the bottom to the to-p of a deposit* of alfalfa and partially shutting ofi".V the supply of such air gradually step by to the top.

6. A method for curing a supply of alfalfa, consisting in feeding step by step, a

supply of compressed` heated air from the bottom to the top of a deposit of alfalfa and partially shutting 0H ythe supply of such air gradually step by step from the bottom to the top, and then carrying theV entire deposit of alfalfa up a step by step control.

7. An apparatus for curing alfalfa and other. legume consisting rof a plurality of superposed hose to be imbedded in the legume, means entering av standpipe communicating with the hose for .feeding `compressed heated air through the several hose,

means associated With the standpipe for controlling thecompressed heated air, each, hose having outlets for the escape of thefair, and means for permitting an 1n]ect1on of outside.4

fresh air to rmixwith the compressed treated arffor cooling off `the heated air prior to its entering the standpipe.

8. ln an apparatus for curing legume, the

combination With a standpipe, of a plurality of superposed hose, to be imbedded inthe legume, and each having aconnection With the Standpipameans for'feeding compressed step from` the bottom l consecutively.

9. Ink an apparatus for curing legume, th f combination With a standpipe, of a plurality of superposed .hose to be imbedded in the i legume and each having connectionV With the standpipe, means having a pipeconnection with the standpipe for feeding compressed air to the standpipe, means associated with the pipe connect-ion to heat the compressed air, means in the connection of each hose yWith the standpipe for controlling the supply of air, veach hose having outlets for the air, by-pass means inthe pipe V'connection and having a device for opening or closing the passage through the` by-pass means, means associated with the pipe connection for shutting off the compressed air from the heating means, When the device in the bypass means is open, and means in the standpipe for permitting heated compressed air to ascend to and through the several hose consecutively. i

l0.v In an apparatus for curing legume, the combinationwith a standpipe, of a plurality ofsuperposed hose to be imbedded in the legume and each having connection With the standpipe, means having a pipe connection with the standpipe for feeding compressed air to the standpipe, means associ-L ated With the pipe connection to heat the compressed air, means in the connection of each hose with theV standpipe for controlling the supply of air, each hose having outlets for the air, by-pass means in the pipe connection and having a device for opening or closing the passage through they bypass means, means associated with the pipe con#y nection for shutting off` the compressed air kfrom the heating means, When thedevice in the by-pass means is open, means in the standpipe for permitting heated compressed air to ascend to and through theseveral hose consecutively, and means for permitting an injectionof outside fresh air in throughthe f standpipe. In testimony 

